TERENCE 'ACTIONMAN' VRUGTMAN REVIEWS THE 'SOLARMONKEY ADVENTURER'

by Terence Vrugtman

PowerTraveller is fast becoming a well-known name in the power industry. Their products are vastly popular amongst their target market and have earned that right. We were sent the PowerTraveller Solar Monkey Adventurer to put to the test and use while out on the job. Until now, I never really needed an extra power source but as my job has become more demanding with the events that have grown in size, I have been concerned that one day I might just run out of battery.

I use a lot of gear, all of which requires a battery and at some point a power source. My watch, GoPro and even professional camera gear all need to be charged after a hard day on the job and given the locations we end up in, plugging into the wall cannot be taken for granted or is no longer an easily accessible option.

The Solar Monkey Adventurer is compact, lightweight, two piece solar panel with a built in battery pack. The device can be charged via USB from a power point or you can just pop it in the sun. There are no on/off switches and no visible fragile bits.

When I first got the device, I didn’t quite know what to do with it. Not one for reading manuals, I opened it up and didn’t think much more. I walked into the sun and notice a red light instantly turn on. From what I gather it was charging. 2 hours later I came back and the light was green, and that was that. Simple… no “I forgot to turn it on or off”. It just worked; but how was the battery life?

I first took the Adventurer on a training session in the Magaliesberg. We started with a mini traverse at 02h00 and my cell battery was low from the extended day before. Around 05h00 I pulled the adventurer out plugged my phone in and chucked both back in my bag. Roughly 3 hours later, I needed to use my phone and to my surprise, it had a full battery. Convenient!

While the Adventurer is advertised to charge Phones and tablets, it has charged up my Samsung Mirrorless plenty of times and saved my skin .Not to mention my GoPro; easy!

One can see a lot of thought went in to the device. Its seems to answer a lot of questions before you ask them and is prepared for any adventure.

It's water and shock resistant,

It can sense light and automatically turns on,

It can charge from ambient light, a wall socket and USB,

It has an advanced safety feature that turns it off automatically in case the battery is over charged,

It can deal with extreme temperatures too, both hot and cold,

You can also charge the SolarMonkey Adventurer and other devices simultaneously, thus saving time.

The Adventurer also comes in a protective pouch with a daisy-chain outer construction which means you can attach it to anything.

It really is well thought out. Once you get one, you start to wonder how you lived without it.

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